Ten years after her death Mother Teresa seems to be stirring up some controversy. The controversy is so significant, in fact, that many major television networks, magazines and radio programs are covering it with much interest and mystery. Mother Theresa even made the cover of Time Magazine: The Secret Life of Mother Theresa. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html
The controversy? A new book: Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light which contains the personal correspondence of Mother Theresa which reveal that she suffered from spiritual dryness questioned the presence of God in her life. This is spiritual experience is commonly referred to as a dark night of the soul. What is unique here is that Mother Theresa's "night" lasted about 50 years! And would have guessed? In such a state one does not feel the love or presence of God; one may feel abandoned by God and even question God's existence. While most of us have probably struggled and suffered moments of this in our lives the world seems surprised and even scandalized that a woman who will most likely will be canonized a saint in the next few years endured the same struggle as the rest of us.
Here is an excerpt from one of her letters that gives us an insight to her suffering:
"Lord, my God, who am I that You should forsake me? The Child of your Love — and now become as the most hated one — the one — you have thrown away as unwanted — unloved. I call, I cling, I want — and there is no One to answer — no One on Whom I can cling — no, No One. — Alone ... Where is my Faith — even deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness & darkness — My God — how painful is this unknown pain — I have no Faith — I dare not utter the words & thoughts that crowd in my heart — & make me suffer untold agony. So many unanswered questions live within me afraid to uncover them — because of the blasphemy — If there be God — please forgive me — When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven — there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives & hurt my very soul. — I am told God loves me — and yet the reality of darkness & coldness & emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart?"
— addressed to Jesus, at the suggestion of a confessor, undated
Your reaction?
I have been dumbfounded by some of the responses her letters have received. Some have called Mother's Theresa's "secret life" hypocritical and claim that these "secret letters" are a scandal to her life and the Catholic Church. What? Once again, a secular society shows their absolute ignorance of things divine and spiritual. It is true that Mother Theresa questioned her own hypocrisy: "I spoke as if my very heart was in love with God — tender, personal love....if you were [there], you would have said, 'What hypocrisy." However, what some claim to be hypocrisy is quite the opposite, it is heroic saintly love.
Can you imagine what life would be like if we all went around only speaking and acting according to how we felt? Try that on your boss some day, or in your marriage, or with your kids. In fact, I think many do just that as evidenced by our increased secular and divorce-mentality society that says "just do it...if it feels good". Implied, of course, is "and don't do it if you don't feel like it". A hypocrite is one who believes one thing but says and does another. On this account, Mother Theresa is not only acquitted but commended. She was woman of deep faith and heroic love for God and his poor, only without the loving sentiments to go with it.
Although this darkness and doubt that surrounded 50 years of her life is getting all the press, imagine how much greater must her faith and love been to be able to securely and even joyfully carry her through her pilgrimage on earth to her Light. Jesus gave us the parable of the fool who built his house on sand. "The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined." (Mt 7:26-27) Mother Theresa's house of faith was built on rock: "The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse" (Mt 7, 25). In fact, Mother Theresa's house of faith flourished so much that she became recognized all over the world by Christians and non-Christians alike as a modern day saint.
Mother Theresa's letters detailing her longstanding spiritual struggle has shaken or perhaps shattered many people's idea of what a saint is. A saint is someone who loves like Christ. Therefore, to be a saint one must know Christ and be profoundly united to him in his Word (Scripture) and the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation, and must live out this personal relationship with him in one's daily life though one's actions and words.
So what does a saint look like? "For every tree is known by its own fruit." (Lk 6:44) Notice, Jesus doesn't say that we are known by how we feel, but by our fruit. Jesus said this right after teaching the crowd about Christian discipleship. He taught them the Beatitudes, to love your enemies; to do to others what you would have done to you, to be merciful and not to judge one another. In others, a Christian is not merely one who believes in Jesus and agrees with what he taught, but one who lives it out. "For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother. (Mt12:50). There has never been any doubt that Mother Teresa did the will and work of God and did so with joy despite her spiritual darkness. This makes her all the more holy because it required nothing less than heroic love. Her ministry of working with the poorest of the poor was incredibly hard physical and spiritual work and required a miraculous amount of faith and virtue.
Lessons to Learn from Mother Teresa.
Most of us struggle with faith; that is part of the nature of faith. There was a man who approached Jesus and said "'Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit'. Then [Jesus] questioned [the] father, 'How long has this been happening to him?' He replied, 'Since childhood...but if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." Jesus said to him, “‘if you can!' Everything is possible to one who has faith." Then the boy's father cried out, "I do believe, help my unbelief!" (Mk 9: 17, 22-24) I wonder of that was Mother Teresa's prayer; it is sometimes our own, and it is a holy faith-filled prayer. Remember, neither God's existence nor his love for us cannot be judged by our feelings. God has always and will always exist and he will always be closer to us than we are to ourselves. Sometimes will feel God's love - spiritual consolation - and other times we feel nothing - spiritual desolation. St. Ignatius has much mission wisdom to offer to us in this respect: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/ignatius/exercises.xix.i.html
While the length of time that Mother Teresa carried her cross of spiritual desolation is quite rare, her experience is quite common. Not only did St. John of the cross, who wrote a book entitled Dark Night of Soul, St. Therese de Lisiuex, Dorothy Day, and St. Theresa of Avila suffer tremendous spiritual darkness but so did Jesus. This can be reasonably concluded from his 40 days in the desert, the Garden of Gethsemane (Take this cup from me, but not my will but yours be done") and of course from the Cross "My God, My God why have you forsaken me"? Jesus was suffered physically and spiritually. He wasn't feeling full a lot of love but pain and desolation, nonetheless, he "gave himself up to death, a death he freely accepted" (Eucharistic Prayer III). When Jesus told us that the cost of discipleship meant taking up one's cross and following him this included the cross of spiritual desolation, of loving through the dark night of our lives.
Prior to Mother Teresa's 50 years of spiritual dryness she was also blessed with extraordinary, supernatural consolation. In her early letters, she speaks of having received visions of Christ and hearing his voice as distinctly and surely as we hear one another's voice. This sweet encounter with Christ would nourish and sustain her for the rest of her life. Although the sweetness of these experiences would later be replaced by dynes, they were - then and forever - real and would sustain her for the rest of her life. She had consecrated her life to Christ to be like Christ to be united to him and closely as possible and suffering - the cross - is the most painful and fruitful way. The resurrection only comes by way of the cross.
Mother Teresa's letters teach us how to pray like a saint. How many of us say "I don't feel anything when I pray" and assume they're not "doing it right" or that they're not the "praying type". Mother Teresa and her sisters spent 2 hours in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament every day. Prior to the publication of her letters many probably assumed she enjoyed prayer and was probably gifted with some special consolation. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Mother Teresa teaches us that we don't pray in order to feel good nor can we judge the value of our prayer based on how we feel. She teaches us about real faith. Prayer is act of love and faith in a God who does exist and listens and answers us according his will, not ours. She teaches us perseverance. It's easy to pray when all is well and feels well; it takes faith, hope, love and courage to prayer when you don't feel a thing - for 1 day or 50 years!. The fruit of prayer is not consolation - although God sometimes gives us that grace - but fidelity lived out in loving service to one another, with a preferential option to the poor.
Mother Teresa teaches us about relationships. Our love for one another and for God often mirrors one another. We can learn from Mother Teresa not only how to love God but how to be faithful and loving to one another even when are void of all sentiments of love. Fidelity requires us to love and live up to our promise to love, honor and respect our spouse till death do us part; to love our parents and children who are not always reciprocal in expressing their love; to Christ in the poor - "whatever you did for the least of my brethren you did it for me" (MT 25:40), and when I was hungry you gave me to eat..."(Mt 25:35).
Many men and women throughout history have been inspired and converted to Christ through reading the lives of the saints "on whose constant intercession we rely for help (Eucharistic Prayer III). Read the life of Mother Teresa, read her letters, read a book on the lives of the saints, it should sit next to your bible and the catechism. Together with the Sacraments we are strengthened in faith and love to go out into our corner of the world - our home, schools, and places of work and play - to be Christ for one other.
Time Magazine quotes Mother Teresa saying "If I ever become a saint, I will surely be a saint of darkness". What a wonderful saint to pray to in our times of desolation and darkness, not to take it away but help us love through it with love and joy. She is a saint of divine Light.
— addressed to Jesus, at the suggestion of a confessor, undated
Your reaction?
I have been dumbfounded by some of the responses her letters have received. Some have called Mother's Theresa's "secret life" hypocritical and claim that these "secret letters" are a scandal to her life and the Catholic Church. What? Once again, a secular society shows their absolute ignorance of things divine and spiritual. It is true that Mother Theresa questioned her own hypocrisy: "I spoke as if my very heart was in love with God — tender, personal love....if you were [there], you would have said, 'What hypocrisy." However, what some claim to be hypocrisy is quite the opposite, it is heroic saintly love.
Can you imagine what life would be like if we all went around only speaking and acting according to how we felt? Try that on your boss some day, or in your marriage, or with your kids. In fact, I think many do just that as evidenced by our increased secular and divorce-mentality society that says "just do it...if it feels good". Implied, of course, is "and don't do it if you don't feel like it". A hypocrite is one who believes one thing but says and does another. On this account, Mother Theresa is not only acquitted but commended. She was woman of deep faith and heroic love for God and his poor, only without the loving sentiments to go with it.
Although this darkness and doubt that surrounded 50 years of her life is getting all the press, imagine how much greater must her faith and love been to be able to securely and even joyfully carry her through her pilgrimage on earth to her Light. Jesus gave us the parable of the fool who built his house on sand. "The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined." (Mt 7:26-27) Mother Theresa's house of faith was built on rock: "The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse" (Mt 7, 25). In fact, Mother Theresa's house of faith flourished so much that she became recognized all over the world by Christians and non-Christians alike as a modern day saint.
Mother Theresa's letters detailing her longstanding spiritual struggle has shaken or perhaps shattered many people's idea of what a saint is. A saint is someone who loves like Christ. Therefore, to be a saint one must know Christ and be profoundly united to him in his Word (Scripture) and the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation, and must live out this personal relationship with him in one's daily life though one's actions and words.
So what does a saint look like? "For every tree is known by its own fruit." (Lk 6:44) Notice, Jesus doesn't say that we are known by how we feel, but by our fruit. Jesus said this right after teaching the crowd about Christian discipleship. He taught them the Beatitudes, to love your enemies; to do to others what you would have done to you, to be merciful and not to judge one another. In others, a Christian is not merely one who believes in Jesus and agrees with what he taught, but one who lives it out. "For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother. (Mt12:50). There has never been any doubt that Mother Teresa did the will and work of God and did so with joy despite her spiritual darkness. This makes her all the more holy because it required nothing less than heroic love. Her ministry of working with the poorest of the poor was incredibly hard physical and spiritual work and required a miraculous amount of faith and virtue.
Lessons to Learn from Mother Teresa.
Most of us struggle with faith; that is part of the nature of faith. There was a man who approached Jesus and said "'Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit'. Then [Jesus] questioned [the] father, 'How long has this been happening to him?' He replied, 'Since childhood...but if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." Jesus said to him, “‘if you can!' Everything is possible to one who has faith." Then the boy's father cried out, "I do believe, help my unbelief!" (Mk 9: 17, 22-24) I wonder of that was Mother Teresa's prayer; it is sometimes our own, and it is a holy faith-filled prayer. Remember, neither God's existence nor his love for us cannot be judged by our feelings. God has always and will always exist and he will always be closer to us than we are to ourselves. Sometimes will feel God's love - spiritual consolation - and other times we feel nothing - spiritual desolation. St. Ignatius has much mission wisdom to offer to us in this respect: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/ignatius/exercises.xix.i.html
While the length of time that Mother Teresa carried her cross of spiritual desolation is quite rare, her experience is quite common. Not only did St. John of the cross, who wrote a book entitled Dark Night of Soul, St. Therese de Lisiuex, Dorothy Day, and St. Theresa of Avila suffer tremendous spiritual darkness but so did Jesus. This can be reasonably concluded from his 40 days in the desert, the Garden of Gethsemane (Take this cup from me, but not my will but yours be done") and of course from the Cross "My God, My God why have you forsaken me"? Jesus was suffered physically and spiritually. He wasn't feeling full a lot of love but pain and desolation, nonetheless, he "gave himself up to death, a death he freely accepted" (Eucharistic Prayer III). When Jesus told us that the cost of discipleship meant taking up one's cross and following him this included the cross of spiritual desolation, of loving through the dark night of our lives.
Prior to Mother Teresa's 50 years of spiritual dryness she was also blessed with extraordinary, supernatural consolation. In her early letters, she speaks of having received visions of Christ and hearing his voice as distinctly and surely as we hear one another's voice. This sweet encounter with Christ would nourish and sustain her for the rest of her life. Although the sweetness of these experiences would later be replaced by dynes, they were - then and forever - real and would sustain her for the rest of her life. She had consecrated her life to Christ to be like Christ to be united to him and closely as possible and suffering - the cross - is the most painful and fruitful way. The resurrection only comes by way of the cross.
Mother Teresa's letters teach us how to pray like a saint. How many of us say "I don't feel anything when I pray" and assume they're not "doing it right" or that they're not the "praying type". Mother Teresa and her sisters spent 2 hours in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament every day. Prior to the publication of her letters many probably assumed she enjoyed prayer and was probably gifted with some special consolation. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Mother Teresa teaches us that we don't pray in order to feel good nor can we judge the value of our prayer based on how we feel. She teaches us about real faith. Prayer is act of love and faith in a God who does exist and listens and answers us according his will, not ours. She teaches us perseverance. It's easy to pray when all is well and feels well; it takes faith, hope, love and courage to prayer when you don't feel a thing - for 1 day or 50 years!. The fruit of prayer is not consolation - although God sometimes gives us that grace - but fidelity lived out in loving service to one another, with a preferential option to the poor.
Mother Teresa teaches us about relationships. Our love for one another and for God often mirrors one another. We can learn from Mother Teresa not only how to love God but how to be faithful and loving to one another even when are void of all sentiments of love. Fidelity requires us to love and live up to our promise to love, honor and respect our spouse till death do us part; to love our parents and children who are not always reciprocal in expressing their love; to Christ in the poor - "whatever you did for the least of my brethren you did it for me" (MT 25:40), and when I was hungry you gave me to eat..."(Mt 25:35).
Many men and women throughout history have been inspired and converted to Christ through reading the lives of the saints "on whose constant intercession we rely for help (Eucharistic Prayer III). Read the life of Mother Teresa, read her letters, read a book on the lives of the saints, it should sit next to your bible and the catechism. Together with the Sacraments we are strengthened in faith and love to go out into our corner of the world - our home, schools, and places of work and play - to be Christ for one other.
Time Magazine quotes Mother Teresa saying "If I ever become a saint, I will surely be a saint of darkness". What a wonderful saint to pray to in our times of desolation and darkness, not to take it away but help us love through it with love and joy. She is a saint of divine Light.
Be a saint!
Mother Teresa, pray for us.
Mother Teresa, pray for us.
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Thanks to Dr. Paul Ford for passing along the following incredible radio interview with Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, editor and co-author of "Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta," principal advocate for Mother Teresa's cause for canonization, and co-founder of Missionaries of Charity Fathers and Reverend James Martin, Associate Editor of America Magazine and author of "My Life with the Saints": http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/08/20070830_a_main.asp
Thanks to Dr. Paul Ford for passing along the following incredible radio interview with Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, editor and co-author of "Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta," principal advocate for Mother Teresa's cause for canonization, and co-founder of Missionaries of Charity Fathers and Reverend James Martin, Associate Editor of America Magazine and author of "My Life with the Saints": http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/08/20070830_a_main.asp
